Be rea$onable

Pricing, daily rate, hourly rate and what you’ll settle for is a decision we make constantly.

I have heard guys say, “I don’t work for less than $75 an hour or $700 a day”. Really? I can almost guarantee you’ll be sitting at home playing Wii, with your “go bag” gathering mold and contemplating why no one is calling.

It’s not that you aren’t worth it, the reality is that no one is paying that to a specialist on a regular basis. That being said, you need to reconfigure your bottom line and your unreasonable net worth. Otherwise, you’re going to be hungry. Sitting home, waiting on the EP fairy to wave her magic wand is not going to happen if you’re labeled as being too expensive to call.

Let’s put something else on the table. There are countless PSD guys matriculating back into the states and placing themselves in the stateside EP market. There is NO, I repeat, NO correlation between what you made in the sand box, with what you should make here. Just because you’ve worked in a non permissive environment does not equate to being more valuable. In fact, from my perspective, without depressurization and re-wiring of mindset, you can actually be a libo-risk. We aren’t window licking with guns above the window line here in the private sector, whereby that was the flavor of the day over there for the most part. That overseas market is slowly drying up so there is going to be a large influx of tactical vests and plate carriers returning soon, so you might as well get ready.

The average specialist here in the states makes between $35-$50 an hour and anywhere between $300-$500 a day. Get that in your memory bank if you want to put money in your checking account.

To the business owners reading this blog, price gouging is tearing this business apart. Some of you have some outrageous and unreasonable rates on the table. It’s no wonder why a scab from the catfish network can ruthlessly come along and undercut your detail. Clients never measure what it is that we’ve done or do, but they can easily and readily put their finger on how much we cost them. And as I said before sticker shock will kill a detail quick fast and in a hurry.

Minister taught me a trick that has helped my longterm details look more attractive to a client. I price break after a certain time on station. Meaning after a period of “X” time under contract I will actually renegotiate the billing. Yea I know, the money mongers reading this are saying, “Hell naw” but what’s better, short term money or long term stability. We are in a business and business minds need to make business sense.

There are times that I will include a detail operations manager that oversees the detail and tell the client it is of no charge as an added perk. Business mind making business sense.

I’ve just given you a small peak behind the vail of BPI and I better stop before Minister calls me. There is however, no secret behind forging a relationship with a client and fostering that relationship. Always professionalism with a business mindset and ensuring they are getting their monies worth. Otherwise go to craigslist and keep looking under the security section for available jobs.